Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Scary Stuff

I'm generally reluctant to post stuff from MSNBC (or anyone else's) opinion programs because it always degenerates into mutual bile-spewing about "bias;" but this clip from last night's Rachel Maddow Show is too much of a treasure-trove of religious-psycopathy for me NOT to call attention to...

These are REAL guys - not satirists - many of them speaking to cheering, agreeing crowds of THOUSANDS in an allegedly modern country. I don't care what, if anything, your spiritual or political affiliation (or lack thereof) is - that FACT should scare the shit out of you.

Whenever I'm on about "Thinkers vs. Believers," this is the stuff I'm talking about.

38 comments:

"So Japan's economic troubles? Those are because the Japanese Emperor, had sex, with the Sun God Demon America' economic woes? We await diagnosis..."

Whilst I try to distance myself from these types of "discussions", I thought that Rachel Maddow's response to the "Sun Goddess Demon guy" was genius, and sums up the entire argument.

In case it doesn't come across, I'm from the UK where we don't seem to have deeply religious leaders who try to push their own religious beliefs through their policies.

It really makes me wonder why most (not all) of the elected representatives in the States fill their speeches with a very small amount of Christian doctrine and a whole bucket full of scaremongering. I can understand that a large percentage of American citizens are Christian, but is that the only reason?

I mean, where do these representatives and pastors get their evidence from? Are they just speculation and coincidence? I hope not.

Disclaimer: I don't begrudge anyone their beliefs. In fact, I feel quite the opposite. I respect people who believe in something, no matter what it is. Also, this is the opinion of the commenter, NOT the author of this post.

The greatest atrocities ever committed on this planet have been in the name of GodThis country was founded by Puritans, for the expressed purpose of oppression-free worshipYour attitude is the same arrogant, fearful fundamentalism that fueled the hatred of the Crusades & the attacks on 9/11.If we are not allowed to worship God as groups & individuals free from persecution, in respectfulTolerance, there's only one outcome...

Is this really what mainstream religion in the US is like? Wow... unrecognisable to Christians from other parts of the world. This kind of insanity is just never seen here outside of psychiatric wards.

Hate to say it, but it's not even recognizable to most of us who grew up with the stuff. Whatever it was before has been usurped by these crazies. Normally Im not of the same views as Bob politically, but in this case, yeah, the whole religion thing was dead for me Years ago. I stopped caring about it when I saw it becoming the mess you now see.

Hate to interrupt everyones circle jerk to Rachel Maddows college chick mannerisms, but holy shit... Why not a post that brings up attention to how crazy Scientologists/Oprah's cult followers are? It would make more sense because their followers are at least ten times more crazy than the people that are in the video clip, not to mention greatly outnumber the followers of these wackjobs.

Bob, some of us have bigger fish to fry, and its hard for me not to consider you biased when you post videos about religious leaders i've never heard of, when you could be calling attention to more dangerous cults/religions.

Oprah leads a cult that's far more crazy then anything in that video? are you by chance in any of those clips?

Seriously, if you're gonna call a TV personality as crazy as the guy who thinks GOD SENT HITLER then you're gonna have to prove it. Post anything from Oprah that matches anything in the Maddow clip. I eagerly await to see Oprah ranting about the danger of the Illuminati.

Look I'm not a very religious person but I do get a little uncomfortable at displays of Anti-Christian bias or attempts to paint an entire group of people through the words or action of few. THIS IS NOT ONE OF THOSE CASES! There is a frighteningly large (not a majority, not by a long shot)subset of Christians who've embraced an incredibly superstitious and irrational view of their religion and the world around them. No amount of complaining about Scientology changes this fact or the danger posed by this groups influence over right wing politics in the U.S. today or the unwillingness of otherwise mainstream Christian groups to call this craziness out for fear of losing their own legitimacy.

The Sturmabteilung (SA), AKA stormtroopers or brownshirts, the Nazi paramilitaries instrumental in bringing Hitler to power, had several gays among their leadership. Hitler and most of the Nazi elite knew this, but didn't care until after the SA had outlived their usefulness. Most of the SA leadership were assassinated by the SS and Gestapo in the 1934 Night of the Long Knives. At this point, the sexual orientation of the SA leadership was publicly exposed as one of the reasons for their executions. And yes, homosexuals were among those rounded up and placed in concentration camps, which is where the pink triangle came from.

So, that white-haired jackass clearly understands that the best big lies are those based on a tiny bit of truth twisted and warped beyond any semblance of reality.

To foreign readers who wonder how American politicians can act so strange, it's pretty simple.

In America, all the normal people don't care enough to vote, which by definition makes voters "abnormal". So the politiicians go and figure out which type of abnormality is most popular and pretend that's what they believe, and that's who all the abnormal people vote for.

Unfortunately, in order to vote against one person you have to for someone else. So as long as a politician appeals to the biggest group of wierdos without seeming too weird himself, they get the votes.

But none of that really matters anyway because the country is actually controlled by all the corporations who spend lots of money on lobbyists to make sure nothing ever really changes, because that would be bad for buisiness.

I'm somewhat religious, and these superstitious people make me feel sick to my stomach, not to mention very angry. I agree with what 9jack9 said. As much as some of us would like to, we rational religious folk are unwilling to call these crazy bastards out without our own legitimacy becoming suspect.

However, if that's truly the risk, I'm willing to take it. I'm sick of these pretentious cowards subverting an otherwise peaceful religion and making into a face for bigotry and hatred. There's a reason Gandhi once said "I love your Christ, but not your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

“When facism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”

To be honest, I'm not sure exactly how "scary" this stuff should be--whether people like them are genuine threats, or if they're just a bunch of crazy people that should be laughed off and ignored.

If you're interested in the topic, though, I suggest reading American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America by Chris Hedges. Again, I don't know if the book should be read as a warning or just some amusing fear-mongering, but it's interesting stuff either way.

So Amaterasu, the sun goddess, having sex with the emperor caused Japan to suffer economic failure? Funny, because I could have sworn the Emperor no longer had power as of 1945. And isn't Amaterasu one of the GOOD GUYS?! I mean, they made a video game based around her...called Okami.

Actually, I think his "point" was that Japan's leaders' ritual-collusion with their "heathen" gods made THEIR economy better at the expense of ours.

You have to remember that, to A LOT of hardcore Christian-regressives, the idea that ALL other religions' gods are actually powerful demons leading their adherents astray is literally an article of faith.

I'm an active Christian who lives in America and tend to have conservative views on political topics (though I'm not all that politically savvy). That being said, I want to have NOTHING to do with Rick Perry. If he seriously becomes the Republican candidate, he has given me NOTHING that makes me want to vote for him.

I have no problem with political leaders who wear their religions on their sleeves, but extremism is extremism, regardless of religion (or lack thereof), and these pastors are simply resorting to shock to get attention. Those who go out of their way to demean and insult other people's religions and cultures should have nothing to do with positions that demand they get along with such people.

There is nothing wrong with having faith in a god and using prayer and worship to solve individual and personal problems. I wouldn't even blink if the president made a decision based on his own sense of spirituality (which is a part of his character). What IS wrong is when people use religion as a weapon to herd people into doing what you want them to do. Unfortunately, this is a tradition as old as religion itself. Let's just hope that this doesn't stereotype Christians too badly . . .

Even if we were to agree to your assertion about Scientology or oprah, your point is a fallacy. Christian dominionism will always be a greater threat because it is popular. Tom cruise isn’t going to get elected to public office. Perry already is.

@ Etries.

It’s a pretty good bet that ANY demographic blamed for the Nazis by a Christian is actually a group the Nazis specifically targeted.

@Josh

“these pastors are simply resorting to shock to get attention.”

NO. They aren’t. That’s the thing people don’t realize. This is what they think they can get away with. I guarantee most of them are FAR more crazy than they are letting on.

The really scary part is because they are part of Christianity, the mainstream public will have a MUCH harder time actually picking up on their crazy, because to the mainstream, Christian=good. A larger portion of the country agrees with them, and an even larger part is giving them unwitting camouflage.

Oh my god! At some point or other a dozen or so Christians have said something crazy, or at least sound crazy out of context! Surely there are no such clips of people affiliated with other ideologies!

Like most politicians, Rick Perry will affiliate with whoever will bring in voters, crazy or not. It's done by both Republicans and Democrats alike. And, like most news TV pundits, Maddow is just trolling to get ratings.

here's the thing, bob. you claim to be a moderate of sorts - something that seems crazy to me, for a well-educated person. but the thing, is, i can tell you ARE sane, because any time you show us a "look at these looneys!" video, its always the crazy rightwingers.

in some, i guess i'm saying that, in this political climate, at least, you ain't no "moderate." (you're either with them or against them, right?)

Because, Wackenhut is composed primarily of Butt Vodka Guys, and the CIA is the central inundation agency, and those "stuck in iraq" are scientifically illiterate mercs and (according to the Haughty John Kerry, who served in "the biggest nothing" aka the Vietnam war)school dropouts.

I found her rant against Wackenhut(and the just-not-so-bad budget shortfall) particularly offensive, as they work in Fort Belvoir, where I live, as gate guards; I've seen one of their guards at the DC holocaust museum. They are very professional.

Bob has never claimed to be moderate, he just says that he doesn't throw his lot in with any particular party. He will vote for whoever most closely resembles his personal philosophies and will champion the causes he cares about. It may seem like semantics, but there are a lot of people who will vote for candidates specifically due to party affiliation regardless of whether or not their history is consistent with their party's philosophies. You can't really call Bob a Democrat because if some guy ran as an independent and basically promised to do everything Bob wants a politician to do, Bob would probably vote for that person, regardless of whether or not they had a snowball's chance in Hell of winning.

Frankly, I'm sick of this "with them or against them" bipartisan bull crap. The beliefs of people cannot be separated into two clearly labeled sides. That's just how things have ended up because of our political system. Not every issue has two clear-cut sides and the parties don't necessarily agree or disagree on anything and everything, but because the parties need to brand themselves in order to maximize their vote, they make it seem that way.

The truth is, there is no left vs. right. I mean, what does Right Wing actually mean anymore? I've always thought it meant favoring the power of the private sector over the public sector, but considering how many supposed "Right Wing Extremists" talk about writing the word of the Bible into national policy and asking the government to prevent women from exercising birth control, that would seem to be false. I mean, would you call those people "Left Wing"? I'm sure they wouldn't want to be called that. So the fact is that Right Wing isn't about limiting government control, it's about using government control for this instead of that. And the same can be said for Left Wing. So what's the difference? Is it WHAT they want to control? No, because that changes every 8 years too. So what's the REAL definition of Left Wing? Democrat. What's the REAL definition of Right Wing? Republican. It's not a philosophy, it's just a different name for the same thing.

Saying that Republicans champion any particular "Right Wing" philosophy is about as accurate as saying that the New York Yankees represent New York. Sure New Yorkers champion the Yankees and support them, and sure the Yankees technically "represent" New York, but how many of the members of the team are actually from New York? The answer? It doesn't matter. It's about what the team symbolizes and the brand of the Yankees that people have flocked to for generations, regardless of whether or not it makes sense.

What people believe cannot be simply summed up into two general categories and the fact that we Americans keep insisting on it is driving me insane.

Pat/Well said. The left-right scale is a useless leftover from the 18th century.

Also, the American use of the words "liberal" and "conservative" have always bugged me. Liberal simply mean you want freedom, it means SMALL government; the Libertarian party is the most liberal party of America. Conservative simply means you are skeptical of societal change, especially on the lower level: the family and local communities. The worlds first welfare state was Bismark's Germany, one of the school examples of a conservative country.

It has very little to do with her unfortunate life choices and nothing to do with her short hair. It has everything to do with makeup. When I first watched her show, I did not know if he was a she or that she was gay until I looked her up on wikipedia.

Really? Unfortunate Life choice? Tell you what, why don't you go suck a dick, hmm? or fuck a dude in the ass, prove it's a choice by making it, then choose to only fuck dudes for the rest of your life and never have sex with a woman. If it's a choice it should be easy to prove right? Imagine the street-cred you'd get with other delusional, psychotic bigots by proving to the world that you can choose to be sexually attracted to your own gender.

One last thing, mostly unrelated. If you have ever jerked it to lesbian pornography and you don't support gay rights, you are a fucking hypocrite.

'Liberal' and 'Conservative' are indeed meaningless in US political discourse, and I always try to use "left-wing" or "right-wing" to describe the conglomeration of mostly-unrelated platform points of the GOP and Dems.

Here's the thing about Bob: until he released his fourth terrible political video, despite claims of neutrality he was reflecting the opinions of a party line Democrat. Nothing wrong with that, but there is something wrong with 'throwing in' with or identifying with one of the two sides: Neither one are the good guys. The fourth one has pissed off a lot of people, but at least it tried to come from a more neutral position.

It doesn't make any sense, not only in reality and logically, but mythologically too. Amaterasu is supposed to be the ancestor to one of the sides of the original imperial family. According to mythology, the emperor is already sacred as a descendant of Amaterasu. There is no reason why he would need to have sex in order to restore his power.

People get pissed when you say "thinkers vs believers" because the two are NOT mutually exclusive.

As someone else has already put, you only see this kind of idiocy in America, and occasionally in Australia. There are extremists in other, underdeveloped countries, but their extremism would be the same regardless of the religion. Those are countries with a different political and cultural structure, and they're changing more rapidly than you could imagine.

In Europe? Nah, you don't get this shit. The young western countries need to grow up, and fast. Not just the religious either, the atheists need to stop tarring everyone with the same brush, it's as discriminatory as the Christian wackos that they complain about.

Are you kidding me? Are you seriously acing like europe is a bastion of reason when it has had at least one religiously motivated genocide in RECENT memory?

Where the UK govermnet gives millions of dollars to homeopathic frauds in lieu of actual medicine?

Where france has multiple laws in place specifically discriminating against a particular religion?

Where nearly EVERY nation has an official state religion?

"Not just the religious either, the atheists need to stop tarring everyone with the same brush, it's as discriminatory as the Christian wackos that they complain about."

BULL. SHIT.

Find me the high profile atheist calling for the deaths of judges who disagree with his political views. Find me the atheist who refuses to condemn murder when it furthers his own cause. Hell, find me the atheist who says anything as crazy as what you saw here.

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About Me

Bob is a part-time independent filmmaker, part-time amateur film critic and full time Movie Geek. He is heterosexual, a pisces, and a severely lapsed Catholic. He is a tireless enemy of censorship, considers his personal politics "Libertine" and enjoys acting as a full time irritant to overly serious people of ALL political stripes.